The relentless hunt for unusual books and ephemera resulted in the strange above find about the Italian Franciscan monk Padre Pio , the so called Miracle Friar , the marks of Christ's crucifixion on his hands, feet and side , the stigmata , for 49 years . Obviously previously owned by somebody deeply interested in Padre Pio, the l958 American published volume came complete with pasted in and loose cuttings about him , plus concern over Australian uranium being used in a proposed nuclear power plant in the Philippines and a l968 warning to Australian Catholics about the worldwide campaign to facilitate abortion , a hot political issue right now in NSW .
Millions of people flocked to see Padre Pio in the village of San Giovanni Rotondo ; it was claimed he caused the blind to see , the lame to walk and the insane to recover in what was described as a carnival atmosphere which attracted religious fanatics and promoters of questionable causes.
A write up after his death in September l968 included : Gone are the morbid curiosity seekers, gone are the cynics and gone are the swindlers who from time to time came here to sell unwary visitors some "holy relic", blood bandages, perhaps, said to have been the dressings that had covered Padre Pio's hands. Author Graham Greene, who converted to Catholicism , was a fan of the friar.
